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That made me think of something else, Lenora...other ladies chime in with your thoughts, too. Did you get the impression Hank was having an affair of sorts with the youngest sister, (Caroline?)? He was moody and depressed after the sisters left and once again, treated Julie terribly.

I also thought Julie had a new baby on the way at the end of the book. He said something about "Why didn't you tell me?"

I think you all covered it pretty well. As Beth said, it was the era they were living in. When you committed, you stuck by your committments. Period. And I think I agree that marriages were not so much about being "in love" but about becoming a team and moving through life. The "in love" part came more from growing together. Because if you don't grow together, the "in love" part can fall apart. Experience speaking here.

#10. All alone in the house with the nearest neighbor a mile and a half off, Julie goes into premature labor with no one to help her. She finds a way to deal with the agonizing pain and fear by simply looking at it as hard work. Discuss the concept of childbirth as the work women were "meant to do." Do you think this view of her role exalts or diminishes a woman?

I thought it was unusual for her to be so "stranded". Didn't most generations back then share a household, or at least live one farm away? I thought it odd that no one had prepared her for the onset of labor and what to look for, even if the event was still supposedly weeks away.

If many other women had been faced wih the same circumstances, I think they would have probably died on the spot... but her drive, strength and determination got her through it. I think it was more a case of her upbringing, than her womanhood, that helped her survive the ordeal.

Yeh, I, too, was a bit dumbfounded that she hadn't a clue about birthing. Farm kids know all about that firsthand and also helping the neighboring women with birthing was generally the norm.

Well, maybe she had been outside chopping wood whenever "birthing" was taking place? I was surprised too, but maybe the timing had something to do with her being unaware?

Jill, I, too, wondered about Hank and the younger sister. I argued with myself about that one - hating that I was thinking the worst - and wondering if maybe he just felt unencumbered when the woman wasn't his wife. But I still kept going back to there was something more there (and disliking the thought that he OR the sister would do that.)

As the the labor - I didn't believe she knew nothing, as I, too, felt that anyone that lived on a farm had to know something about it. That didn't mean it wasn't a new experience for her - and that she wasn't prepared for a permature birth - that I could understand. That's the one part of the book I had trouble with - as she "wasn't prepared" then she was talking about how she wouldn't be able to cut (not the word she used) the umbilical cord (which meant she had more knowledge than the wasn't prepared statement allowed.) All that said, I think the main point was that she was going it alone - which I don't think would have been able to be explained if she hadn't been premature - as after joining the church - those ladies would have been watching out for her.

I wondered, too, if the author was going to go somewhere with Hank and the younger sister, but as quickly as it seemed to start it quit so I guess it's another thing he left to our imaginations.

#11. When Hank arrives home to discover that Julie has given birth, there is a dramatic change in him. He lovingly tends to his sick wife and baby, does all the chores, and, as Julie observes, "It was like Hank had got a lot older." Why do you think he is now ready to take care of his family? Do you think he is able to become strong because, for once in their marriage, Julie is in a weakened state? Or do you think the strength, faith, and gentle nurturing of his young bride have finally rubbed off on him? Is the change in Hank believable?

I thnk part of the 'true Hank' came out at that time. He did step up and I'm sure that touched a special place in Julie's heart. He put forth a heroic effort to save his wife and daughter.

Sometimes the reality of having a family doesn't happen until that little one arrives, so maybe that was part of it. And perhaps guilt for having lost his job made him feel even more responsible. Plus, we all know that when situations arrise, we do what has to be done. Sometimes situations like that bring out the "true person" inside each of us.

I think Hank suddenly found himself in the role as nurturing parent instead of his "spoiled child" role. He knew he HAD to step up or his child would die. Had Julie not been so weakened from the birth, I think he would have continued being moody and assuming. I think that by taking on the duties that would have normally been Julie's responsibility, he could understand how very hard her life was, and he gained a deeper respect for her.

#12. In her fevered state after childbirth, Julie is visited by her dead father in a vision and he tells her she will live and continue to work and love. How does Julie use work to get her through her grief when her baby dies? A continuous thread throughout the novel, work is always hard and necessary, sometimes ennobling, and often the only path to survival. Talk about the various functions that work serves in the novel. In our lives? What is your own view of work? If we didn't need to work for the material benefits it provides, what would its value be?

And Finally, #13, which is the last one...

Novelist Robert Morgan is also a prizewinning poet, and critics have praised Gap Creek for its "starkly beautiful" imagery and "simple but luminous" prose. The New York Times Book Review says Morgan's "stripped-down and almost primitive sentences burn with the raw, lonesome pathos of Hank Williams's best songs." What do you think of Morgan's writing style? Can you think of any other ficitional characters -- in novels or in movies -- whom Julie reminds you of? Do you enjoy reading this kind of fiction? Why or why not?